Updated PBR Colorado 2017 Rankings
March 25, 2016
John Cackowski
State Director
In the fall of 2014 PBR Colorado released our first ever 2015, 2016, and 2017 rankings. In the past year Prep Baseball Report Colorado has had the opportunity to cover amateur baseball like no other organization has ever been able to do before in the state of Colorado. Between scouting numerous games from our last 2017 rankings posted in Janurary, and recently having a great opportunity to see more 2017 grads at the Preseason All-State, we were able to move our 2017 ranking list to 160 players.
Staying at No. 1 is RHP Caleb Sloan of Regis Jesuit. A 6-foot-3, 210-pound right hand pitcher who stands tall and stays tall through his delivery. He gets good lower leg drive and extension out front on his pitches. Body stays in-line and stays square on his follow through. Arm is over the top with good speed on all pitches. His session consisted of a 91 MPH fastball that is thrown on both sides of the plate, a 73 MPH curve with 11/5 break and a 76 MPH change that works away from the right hand hitter. He finished with a 77 MPH slider that has good back door break to a right hand hitter. Sloan has recently been offered by Arizona State.
Staying at No. 2 is a player that has moved up the board the most in the 2017 class this past fall and recent Wichita State commit is Liam Eddy out of Brighton High School. A 6-foot-4, 175-pound right hand pitcher who has a simple windup and delivery. He gets slightly past balanced and drive hard to the plate. Lower half stays in-line through the pitch and falls off slightly on the finish. Arm slot is high ¾ with good speed on all three pitches. He showcased an 89 MPH fastball with a smooth delivery. Curveball was 77 MPH with sharp 11/5 break and he finished with a 79 MPH change with good downward action. Nice combination of three pitches all thrown for strikes.
Coming in at 3 in our rankings is switch hitting catcher Casey Opitz of Heritage High School. A 5-foot-11, 170-pound switch hitting catcher. Ran a 7.13 60. From the left side he stands open with a short stride to come square. Level swing path with good extension. 84 MPH exit velocity. From the right side he is square with a good level path to the ball with same exit velocity. Behind the plate he shows quick actions on balls in the dirt and soft hand while receiving. He showcased a 79 mph accurate arm with pop-times of 1.81-190. Also plays shortstop. Will be interesting to see if he signs as a catcher or MIF. Could end up being an "elite" second basemen at the next level, but has D1 catching skills as well.
Coming in at No. 4 is 6-foot, 185 pound 3B/RHP John Sorensen of Rocky Mountain. Bats left and throws right. We came away extremely impressed with Sorensen after we saw him play in the Junior Sunbelt Classic. He had a great tournament as the only 2017 player who made the team. Hit in the middle of the order for Rocky Mountain in 2015, and expect him to be a force offensively in 2016. Currently Sorenson and Rocky Mountain are out in Cary, N.C. participating in USA Baseball's NHSI Tournament
Some of the biggest risers in our rankings were Jack Winkler, SS, Chatfield, 2017 and Drake Davis, RHP, Ralston Valley, 2017 who both entered the top ten.
Winkler is 6-foot-1, 170 pounds. Bats and throws right. This was the first time we got a real good look of Winkler up close and he did not disappoint. He had one of the best rounds of batting practice of the day spraying hard line drives all over the field. He registered a 93 mph exit velocity off a tee. A well rounded athlete, Winkler ran a 7.06 which in time if he works on it can get that number to be a sub 7. Winkler flashed a strong enough arm across the diamond at 81 mph. With his athleticism, frame and tools, Winkler has put himself on the map as a top prospect in our state.
Davis is 6-foot, 175 pounds. First time we have seen Davis and we came away impressed. He is as aggressive as a pitcher I have seen. Davis has a herky jerky motion which can be intimidating to a hitter, but he will probably have to tone down a bit not to exert too much energy, but he comes at you with 88 mph fastballs and he is all arms and legs. Despite everything going on in the delivery, Davis managed to fill up the strike zone. Aside from his fastball, Davis threw his changeup aggressively and for strikes.
Enough Reading about them to see the list click here.
Here is a sneak peak at the top 10
Rank | Name | Position |
1 | Caleb Sloan | RHP |
2 | Liam Eddy | RHP |
3 | Casey Opitz | C |
4 | John Sorensen | 3B |
5 | James Notary | RHP |
6 | Jack Winkler | SS |
7 | Tyson Hays | C |
8 | Matt Givin | 2B |
9 | Drake Davis | RHP |
10 | Austin Chouinard | SS |